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I've been back from Japan, and I had a chance to attend to Comiket. I was quite surprised to find a great amount of Smile dojins, and quite a bit of them non-18 ones. There are a few that I bought that were very interesting. I may provide info if people are interested (mind you, it'll take a while as I'm still not able to access scanner-digital cameras for ten days or so).

Okay, maybe I won't be that late on commenting this week. If anything, I feel like I'm early. Traveling across three time zones does that. This post is coming from the sunny land of California. I'll get around to all my other shows in the coming days.

But I can tie California into this episode. Wolfrun, Team Smile, and myself spend their time in a sunny, pastoral land with numerous mountain ranges, and mythical creatures that roam the streets, but are surprisingly friendly. ("Celebrities.") Akane, the one with the power of fire, can't take the heat. Miyuki's grandma is the kind of grandma anyone would want to have. Sweet, makes lunch for Miyuki and her friends, and totally cool with everything. Even if Candy did talk in front of her, she wouldn't mind. She thought Wolfrun was a kitsune.

Speaking of Wolfy, while the Bad End Kingdom usually gets throttled into the ground via alicorn every week, they were particularly beaten this week. While the Cures got two new Decor as always, the Bad End Kingdom got... nothing. Not even one step closer to rereleasing Pierre. This is because Miyuki's grandma turns happiness into near invincibility. Or maybe Hoshizora women have that effect on Wolfy. The number of times I've seen him shipped with Ikuyo...

The tengu in the mountains really won this fight. It's also become clear that like the first ending, the second one can change its focus. Yayoi gets dancing duty this week. Japan does pastoral landscapes really well, and this was a nice, relaxing episode about the dog days of summer. Next up: Test of Courage and "I ain't afraid of no ghost!"

This episode is a nice relief from last week's episode. Have always liked visiting the province, and of course visiting my grandparents - so this episode is a pleasantly nostalgic watch for me. The action in this one (in my opinion) is also better than last week.

So there are people who actually can't be affected by bad energy drain. And Wolfrun can't believe someone isn't afraid of him. He would have gotten delicious corn if he didn't try to destroy grandma's house.

In recent news, in the city of Nanairogaoka, a group of vigilantes calling themselves "Smile Precure" were last seen blowing up a school. After being surrounded by a beam of rainbow light from an unknown source, the school was covered in smoke and explosions. While it was apparently unharmed in the aftermath, it's unknown who these fighters are, and what, if anything, they have to do with our world.

This episode lends some fuel to a pairing that's gotten little notice in the Smile fan community - MiyuNao. Both of them are afraid of ghosts, and as such become thrown into a test of courage on Akane's whims. Reika being knowledgable about the school mysteries is expected, but this episode further cemented why Yayoi is one of my favorite characters. Not only was she not scared, she was starry-eyed. Yayoi loves the weird, fancies herself a superhero, and is a budding artist. It's clear she was made to appeal to the older demographic (and the nerd-in-training younger demographic), and I can say that it's working. Yayoi is everyone's little sister.

Majorina got a brief reappearance in her younger form, but it didn't last for nearly as long. Turning the entire school into an Akanbe was clever, but a past plan of hers comes to mind. When she turned the tower into an Akanbe, it was still fairly ambulatory. The school is terrifying on the inside, but once the girls are outside, it can't do a damn thing. Just a sitting bullseye for the Orbital Friendship Cannon.

Thanks to Majorina, they walked away with four new Decor. The Bad End Kingdom needs to step up their game. Which they will, quite literally. Next week looks like a game of Mario Party with our heroines and villains thrown into the mix. I enjoyed this episode, and the callback to the Quiz Akanbe was nice, though like I said, the villains need to get back on their A game. (Even if losing to Miyuki's grandma was hilarious.)

The end of last week does tie into this week, though mostly indirectly. The "summer homework" plotline continues, and resolves itself with everyone but Reika failing in doing it. Ouch. Even with a loss like that, Team Precure is still trouncing the Bad End Kingdom by a large margin. Two more Decor for them, zero more Bad Energy for the Kingdom because of Majorina's plan.

Now, having them compete against the generals in a series of carnival games is a fun premise for the episode. When it began, I wondered "Do they really need to transform into Precure to participate in carnival games?". The answer is, yes. Because the Bad End Bombers + Majorina rigged the game. So it's up to Miyuki and friends to overcome by rigging it back. Some of the things they did - using Sunny Fire as a rocket booster - are acceptable, but Reika freezing the ice for the swimming competition was a little suspect. Though it's equally suspect that Wolfy sicced a freaking shark on her.

(Come on, Toei, you couldn't even give us Cure Beauty swimsuit version? The Precure suit is nice and frilly, but sticking some swim goggles on it does not suddenly mean that it's okay to swim in it.)

The Ferris wheel ride was interesting, with psychological warfare being the last strategy, mostly because it revealed that Yayoi isn't doing her homework because she's going to visit Kamen Rider Some Guy. Precure must live in a world where Kamen Rider still premieres in February. (Speaking of, Wizard! pixiv, you know what you must do)

A fun little diversion, and I hope that when they do revive the Queen, the stakes change a bit. Because the Bad End trio are starting to fall behind. True, they have come back from the dead, so they might not be firing on all neurons, but fire on some neurons, at least. They are fun to watch, however. Great evil chemistry.

Yayoi (and therefore, Hisako Kanemoto), I know you have a tendency for pranks and laughing at stuff that others find scary, but no matter what happens, I will continue to support you. Don't give up hope just yet. There's always room for you in my heart.